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The Nelsonite vol. 10, no. 8

Page 4

Page Four
Vietnam: Each involved in h
The conservatives
Willie Lewis and George-
Tomlinson are two professional
(career orientated) soldiers. They
represented the "conservative"
reflection about the Vietnam War.
The first question dealt with the
drug problem during Vietnam.
Willie answered:
"I don't use drugs. I flew a rig, I
couldn't fly and be high. We had a
policy; if you're caught getting
high, they'd send you to the front.
They figured if you wanted to get
someone killed, kill yourself. I
have no regrets about the war. I
believe a man should stick up for
his country. The U.S. is the best in
the world, by me. I stuck behind
the President . during
Vietnam.People burning their draft
cards and behaving like they did
didn't help matters one bit. I
believe that you should go out and
have peaceful demonstrations, but
not to make a fool of yourself and
your country, right out there where
everyone can see you. That was
ridiculous — the country was
fighting a war!"
When asked why they thought
the action taken by 60's youth was
not the right formula, George
replied:
"Polls show that the majority
was behind the government."
"It (youth conduct) was bad for
morale. People were leaving the
country to fight a war while back
By Kenneth Spreeman
home people were acting like they
did. They didn't help matters one
bit," explained Willie.
When asked what he thought
caused the youth resistance
Willie replied:
"LSD. I was watching the 'tomor-row'
show the other night and from
what I gather, It (LSD) was one of
the major causes. People who take
it don't care about anything, you do
your own thing, you fly and stay
high — take a trip — see weird
things. This is how I interpreted it.
As a result people started growing
long hair, around the Beatle's
time."
"I misunderstood, you mean
there was a widespread use of
LSD?" asked George, puzzled.
"Yes, it was a rebellion," ex-plained
Willie.
When asked whether they
thought there was any validity
behind what the youths were say-ing,
Willie replied:
"Sure, if you're under the in-fluence
of any narcotic or drug
(even alcohol) you say things that
you really don't mean*
When asked whether they
thought the war had any purpose,
George began, saying, "The United
States..
Then Willie blurted out, "Sure I
dol If we would have went over in
the anticipation of winning, in-stead
of messing around and mak-ing
a political affair out of it as we
did, it would have had. a purpose."
"I thank you," George said to
Willie, graciously.
Willie continued, "A lot of peo-
What realty went on during the
Vietnam war? What was ac-complished?
Did we do anything to
"stop the spread of communism,"
as politicians of the time claimed
we should?
The Vietnam War era was a con-fusing
and even remorseful period
for people in the United States. We
still haven't fully recovered. Its-effects
will continue with us for
many years to come.
We interviewed five Vietnam
"vets" to get their insight Into
those times. What were they like?
What do they remember? How do
they feel about the war? .
Two were "conservative,"
representing a "career soldier"
point of view. Three were "radical,"
voicing view's more like those of
the radical demonstrators of the
'60s. All were involved in their own
way with the Vietnam War.
My Country: R i g h t " Left"
The radicals
The "radical" viewpoint is ex-pressed
by Buzz, Mic and Mac.
These names are fictitious at their
request.
"It was unfortunate that we got
involved. It all started with the
spread of communism theory, the
'Big Red Scare'. Kennedy
escalated it, Johnson really
escalated it with the bombing of
the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which is
where I came in," begins Buzz.
Buzz is in his thirties. He was an
active member of the Students for
Democratic Society (a radical
group of the 60's) and a navy "air-dale"
(any member of a ship having
anything to do with air flights;
maintenance, signaling, pilot, etc.)
in the Vietnam War.
"I was on a Carrier running-bombing
missions on the Trail day
and night. I was on ship out at sea,
not actually in the fighting. I'd sit in
the passageways eating "com
rats" (commissioned rations) all
day, with my helmet on, ready for
action. I was going out of my head.
I was smokin' and tokin'
(marjuana), everything I could get a
hold of. Sniffin' glue. I used to take
the cotton out of a nasal decon-gestant
inhaler and dip it in coffee-
-I'd get a "super rush" off that. The
fool I was I volunteered to go off
ship." t A When asked if he felt he was-doing
his "patriotic duty," he
replied, "No, I had strong feelings
about the war. We had concerns
over there like IBM and Zerox,
same as in Iran now. We had oil-interests
in Vietnam, enough to
supply us now if we'd have kept on.
The Big Red Scare was just a good
moral excuse to get the American
people going. They didn't want to
say, 'We're protecting
ourinterests,' we'd say 'to hell with
your interests!' The silent majority
didn't have any Idea why we were
over there. In college I took
courses in civics and history that
kept me attuned to what thenormal
Archie Bunker type was not Into.
Take my dad, for instance. He
could give a rat's a—I He did his
time, and he said let's get over
there and beat the s— out of them
gooksl He took Kennedy's word for
it; took Johnson's word for it; God
Bless America! The students saw
through all this and saw what was
really going on from the inside.
When IBM and Zerox came on-campus
to recruit, that's when a lot
of stuff started happening. I
remember boycotting cjasses
because of this. When people
started realizing the validity behind
what the students ware saying,
tides changed."
"People couldn't see It as a
political war. They could only see it
as a war between the U.S. and the
bad guys," Mac added.
Mac is also in his thirties, a
stateside Marine during the war
and the most spiritualistic of the
three.
Mac continued, "Everyone
thought it was clean cut. I once
asked my superior officer what he

Page Four
Vietnam: Each involved in h
The conservatives
Willie Lewis and George-
Tomlinson are two professional
(career orientated) soldiers. They
represented the "conservative"
reflection about the Vietnam War.
The first question dealt with the
drug problem during Vietnam.
Willie answered:
"I don't use drugs. I flew a rig, I
couldn't fly and be high. We had a
policy; if you're caught getting
high, they'd send you to the front.
They figured if you wanted to get
someone killed, kill yourself. I
have no regrets about the war. I
believe a man should stick up for
his country. The U.S. is the best in
the world, by me. I stuck behind
the President . during
Vietnam.People burning their draft
cards and behaving like they did
didn't help matters one bit. I
believe that you should go out and
have peaceful demonstrations, but
not to make a fool of yourself and
your country, right out there where
everyone can see you. That was
ridiculous — the country was
fighting a war!"
When asked why they thought
the action taken by 60's youth was
not the right formula, George
replied:
"Polls show that the majority
was behind the government."
"It (youth conduct) was bad for
morale. People were leaving the
country to fight a war while back
By Kenneth Spreeman
home people were acting like they
did. They didn't help matters one
bit," explained Willie.
When asked what he thought
caused the youth resistance
Willie replied:
"LSD. I was watching the 'tomor-row'
show the other night and from
what I gather, It (LSD) was one of
the major causes. People who take
it don't care about anything, you do
your own thing, you fly and stay
high — take a trip — see weird
things. This is how I interpreted it.
As a result people started growing
long hair, around the Beatle's
time."
"I misunderstood, you mean
there was a widespread use of
LSD?" asked George, puzzled.
"Yes, it was a rebellion," ex-plained
Willie.
When asked whether they
thought there was any validity
behind what the youths were say-ing,
Willie replied:
"Sure, if you're under the in-fluence
of any narcotic or drug
(even alcohol) you say things that
you really don't mean*
When asked whether they
thought the war had any purpose,
George began, saying, "The United
States..
Then Willie blurted out, "Sure I
dol If we would have went over in
the anticipation of winning, in-stead
of messing around and mak-ing
a political affair out of it as we
did, it would have had. a purpose."
"I thank you," George said to
Willie, graciously.
Willie continued, "A lot of peo-
What realty went on during the
Vietnam war? What was ac-complished?
Did we do anything to
"stop the spread of communism,"
as politicians of the time claimed
we should?
The Vietnam War era was a con-fusing
and even remorseful period
for people in the United States. We
still haven't fully recovered. Its-effects
will continue with us for
many years to come.
We interviewed five Vietnam
"vets" to get their insight Into
those times. What were they like?
What do they remember? How do
they feel about the war? .
Two were "conservative,"
representing a "career soldier"
point of view. Three were "radical,"
voicing view's more like those of
the radical demonstrators of the
'60s. All were involved in their own
way with the Vietnam War.
My Country: R i g h t " Left"
The radicals
The "radical" viewpoint is ex-pressed
by Buzz, Mic and Mac.
These names are fictitious at their
request.
"It was unfortunate that we got
involved. It all started with the
spread of communism theory, the
'Big Red Scare'. Kennedy
escalated it, Johnson really
escalated it with the bombing of
the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which is
where I came in," begins Buzz.
Buzz is in his thirties. He was an
active member of the Students for
Democratic Society (a radical
group of the 60's) and a navy "air-dale"
(any member of a ship having
anything to do with air flights;
maintenance, signaling, pilot, etc.)
in the Vietnam War.
"I was on a Carrier running-bombing
missions on the Trail day
and night. I was on ship out at sea,
not actually in the fighting. I'd sit in
the passageways eating "com
rats" (commissioned rations) all
day, with my helmet on, ready for
action. I was going out of my head.
I was smokin' and tokin'
(marjuana), everything I could get a
hold of. Sniffin' glue. I used to take
the cotton out of a nasal decon-gestant
inhaler and dip it in coffee-
-I'd get a "super rush" off that. The
fool I was I volunteered to go off
ship." t A When asked if he felt he was-doing
his "patriotic duty," he
replied, "No, I had strong feelings
about the war. We had concerns
over there like IBM and Zerox,
same as in Iran now. We had oil-interests
in Vietnam, enough to
supply us now if we'd have kept on.
The Big Red Scare was just a good
moral excuse to get the American
people going. They didn't want to
say, 'We're protecting
ourinterests,' we'd say 'to hell with
your interests!' The silent majority
didn't have any Idea why we were
over there. In college I took
courses in civics and history that
kept me attuned to what thenormal
Archie Bunker type was not Into.
Take my dad, for instance. He
could give a rat's a—I He did his
time, and he said let's get over
there and beat the s— out of them
gooksl He took Kennedy's word for
it; took Johnson's word for it; God
Bless America! The students saw
through all this and saw what was
really going on from the inside.
When IBM and Zerox came on-campus
to recruit, that's when a lot
of stuff started happening. I
remember boycotting cjasses
because of this. When people
started realizing the validity behind
what the students ware saying,
tides changed."
"People couldn't see It as a
political war. They could only see it
as a war between the U.S. and the
bad guys," Mac added.
Mac is also in his thirties, a
stateside Marine during the war
and the most spiritualistic of the
three.
Mac continued, "Everyone
thought it was clean cut. I once
asked my superior officer what he